The Nearsighted Shepherd

Once upon a time, there was a nearsighted shepherd who mistook another flock for his own and began tending them. That flock’s shepherd at first felt offended, but then realized that if the other shepherd did his work, he wouldn’t have to. So he said nothing and walked away to enjoy his new-found leisure. Alas, neither flock benefited. Abandoned, the nearsighted shepherd’s flock fell prey to wolves and perished. Meanwhile, the other flock did not recognize their new shepherd and wandered off to a similar fate. The moral: If you don’t tend to your own responsibilities, no good will result.

The fable of the Nearsighted Shepherd applies very well to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) involvement in the immigration issue.

The Bishops’ attention has wandered from their own flocks to other Bishops’ flocks in foreign lands and in some cases to the flocks of other religions, notably Islam, to the spiritual (and material) detriment of their own flocks.

Let me begin by noting that every Bishop is responsible for the spiritual, physical, and material welfare of the “flock” in one geographical area (diocese). He may be, and in fact should be, concerned with the welfare of other flocks, even those outside his country or continent, but not in a way that neglects or harms his own.

In the matter of immigration, U.S. Bishops have been violating this obligation by acting against the spiritual, physical, and material interests of their congregations. This violation is in fact, so blatant that they are less like the nearsighted shepherd and more like the people Jeremiah described as having eyes yet seeing not and having ears yet hearing not (5:21).

If this assertion seems overstated, consider this fact, noted by Ann Corcoran in Refugee Resettlement and the Hijira to America (2015):

“The USCCB . . . resettles the largest number of refugees in the US with the help of Catholic Charities. . ., they make no effort to single out Christians for resettlement and in fact, in 2013 . . .[requested] that the U.S. State Department bring more Rohingya Muslims from Burma (Myanmar) to America. [In 2014} we admitted 19,769 Iraqi refugees into the U.S., an estimated 70% of them Muslim.” [Emphasis added]

If the migrants were, say, Hindu or Buddhist, there would be no reason for concern. But they are Muslim and, as Corcoran explains, “the goal of [Muslim] migration today is not peaceful assimilation to the political system and mores of the host country. Instead, the goal is jihad by non-violent means—known as civilization jihad or Islamization.”

How does Corcoran know this? In1991 The Muslim Brotherhood wrote an “Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the [Muslim] Group in North America,” advising them to “understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and ‘sabotaging’ its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God’s religion is made victorious over all other religions.” [NOTE: The translation is first in Arabic and then in English. Go to the above link, then scroll down for English.]

People as highly informed as U.S. Catholic bishops might conceivably have been unaware of this announced Muslim intention for a year or two or three, but surely not for over a dozen!

The Bishops not only supported the migration; according to Corcoran, they also supported its funding, which cost U.S. taxpayers “millions of dollars in grants to . . . community organizing centers which teach their people, their ethnic group members, in selected cities, how to access social services, gain citizenship, vote and speak politically when the need arises.”

What makes the Bishops’ actions even more troubling is the fact that it lends credibility to Leftist advocacy of Sharia Law, the system of duties Muslims believe are based on God’s law that they are commanded to carry out. That advocacy, Deborah Weiss explains, “is not simply a religious matter . . . [but] primarily a political movement cloaked in the language of religion . . . and hiding behind U.S. Constitutional protections.” (Islamic Influence in Hollywood.)

What exactly is the Leftist advocacy? As Matthew Vadum has revealed, “the American Left has entered into an alliance of convenience with Islamic terrorists aimed at taking down their mutual enemy: the United States of America. . . . [Individuals] in both major political parties, government, academia, Hollywood, grassroots activism, and other fields are working, wittingly or unwittingly, to make America safe for Islam and sharia.” (How Sharia-Supremacists Collaborate with Leftists to Destroy The United States.)

I conclude that the Bishops’ championing of Muslim migration and their support of the foes of American democracy advance Political Correctness more than Gospel of Jesus Christ. Accordingly, this behavior violates their pastoral responsibility. Moreover, as I wrote in a previous essay, it does a grave disservice to the tens of thousands of Christians of all denominations who have been persecuted by Muslim extremists and the millions more who will suffer if Western culture is replaced by Sharia.

Vincent Ryan Ruggiero

VINCENT RYAN RUGGIERO, M.A., is Professor of Humanities Emeritus, State University of New York, Delhi College. Prior to his twenty-nine year career in education, he was a social caseworker and an industrial engineer. The author of twenty-one books, his trade books include Warning: Nonsense Is Destroying America and The Practice of Loving Kindness. His textbooks include The Art of Thinking and Beyond Feelings, both in 10th editions and available in Chinese as well as English, Thinking Critically About Ethical Issues, and A Guide to Sociological Thinking. His latest book, Corrupted Culture: Rediscovering America's Enduring Principles, Values, and Common Sense, is available at Amazon and in bookstores. Professor Ruggiero is internationally recognized as one of the pioneers of the Critical Thinking movement in education. Earlier in his career, he published essays in a variety of magazines and journals, including America, Catholic Mind, The Sign, The Lamp, and Catholic World.

About Author

VINCENT RYAN RUGGIERO, M.A., is Professor of Humanities Emeritus, State University of New York, Delhi College. Prior to his twenty-nine year career in education, he was a social caseworker and an industrial engineer. The author of twenty-one books, his trade books include Warning: Nonsense Is Destroying America and The Practice of Loving Kindness. His textbooks include The Art of Thinking and Beyond Feelings, both in 10th editions and available in Chinese as well as English, Thinking Critically About Ethical Issues, and A Guide to Sociological Thinking. His latest book, Corrupted Culture: Rediscovering America's Enduring Principles, Values, and Common Sense, is available at Amazon and in bookstores. Professor Ruggiero is internationally recognized as one of the pioneers of the Critical Thinking movement in education. Earlier in his career, he published essays in a variety of magazines and journals, including America, Catholic Mind, The Sign, The Lamp, and Catholic World.

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